Engaging component for cabinet structures

ABSTRACT

An engaging component includes an engaging stub in the shape of a hollow cylinder with the bottom being secured on a first object to be engaged, and an outer sleeve in the shape of a hollow cylinder having a shank arranged to be inserted into the central hole of the engaging stub through a second object to be engaged. A positioning rod is insertable into a central hole of the outer sleeve, the positioning rod preventing the shank from being taken out of the central hole of the engaging stub, thereby locking the outer sleeve to the engaging stub.

This application is a Division of nonprovisional application Ser. No. 08/898,595 filed Jul. 22, 1997.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to a combined structure of an easily assemblable and movable storage cabinet with its engagement components, and is provided for easy assembling of the movable storage cabinet and reducing of its cost of production, working hours as well as its volume in storing and shipping.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A movable storage cabinet is normally used to dispose the electrical appliances such as a TV set, a video cassette recorder/player or a hi-fi set in a house, conventional structure of a movable storage cabinet is as shown in FIG. 1 comprised of a base plate 1, a rear backing plate 2, two lateral side plates 3, a top plate 4 and two door panels 5. In which, the base plate 1 is laid down on the ground with rollers 6 on the bottom thereof, so that the movable storage cabinet can slide by rolling of the rollers 6, the rear backing plate 2 and the two lateral side plates 3 are located upright respectively on the rear and the two lateral sides of the base plate 1, the top plate 4 has an area approximately equal to that of the base plate 1 and covers the tops of the rear backing plate 2 and the two lateral side plates 3, an opened receiving space 7 is formed by the base plate 1 , the top plate 4, the rear backing plate 2 and the two lateral side plates 3, in order to hold therein a video cassette recorder/player, the main machine of a hi-fi set, an amplifier, cassette tapes, videotapes or CDs etc., a TV set can be placed on the top of the top plate 4, the door panels 5 are provided in front of the receiving space 7 for opening or closing the receiving space 7.

The above mentioned conventional structure of a movable storage cabinet is convenient in use, however, it has quite a lot of defects in production, assembling, storing as well as shipping thereof, so that its cost can not be lowered, customers are in no way to buy durable ones of them with cheap prices. The principal reason making the defects of the conventional movable storage cabinets is that, the structure thereof is limited to the conventional assembling mode, i.e., the members including the base plate 1, the rear backing plate 2, the two lateral side plates 3, the top plate 4 and the door panels 5 are all made by connecting and fixing with the material of nails, iron sheets, conventional screws, rivets etc., and can not be detached once they are assembled and fixed; to a manufacturer, this will induce troubles such as too slow assembling speed, time wasting, too large volume of the assembled cabinet, wasting of storing space and inconvenience in shipping, all the troubles can render the cost of production and in turn the selling prices increased, yet customers are unable to take the cabinets home by themselves, shipping charges are induced, this further increases expense of the customers, in view of these, the structure of the conventional movable storage cabinets is necessary to be improved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of this, the inventor of the present invention provides a combination of an easily assemblable and movable storage cabinet and its engagement components based on his professional experience of years in manufacturing and selling practising of the similar products and after continuous study and improving, for solving the problems resided in the prior arts.

Particularly, the combined structure of the easily assemblable and movable storage cabinet of the present invention is comprised of two portions:

a. The movable storage cabinet portion, having therein:

a base plate, the two lateral sides of the top surface thereof being excavated to have positioning holes, the rear side thereof being excavated transversely to have a transverse groove, the two ends of the front side thereof being drilled to have a pair of lower axle holes;

two lateral side plates located upright respectively at the two lateral sides on the base plate, two down bending hooks being provided thereon corresponding in position to the above mentioned positioning holes for engagement and fixing therewith, a vertical groove being provided on the rear end of each side plate located above the above mentioned transverse groove, a plurality of engaging stubs being provided on the tops thereof;

a rear backing plate having two lateral ends for engaging in the vertical grooves of the two lateral side plates, the bottom edge thereof being inserted in the transverse groove of the base plate for securing;

a top plate covering the tops of the rear backing plate and the two lateral side plates, a pair of upper axle holes being provided thereon in corresponding to the above mentioned lower axle holes, and a plurality of through holes being provided in corresponding to the above mentioned engaging stubs; and

two door panels provided at the two lateral ends of the front edges of and between the top plate and the base plate to cover the area in front of the two lateral side plates, a plurality of protruding axles being provided in corresponding to the upper and lower axle holes, so that the door panels being pivotally mounted for opening or closing.

b. The engaging component portion by which the present invention is further characterized, wherein each engaging component is comprised of:

an engaging stub in the shape of a hollow cylinder, the bottom of it being secured on a first object to be engaged with, the top end thereof being aligned with a through hole provided on a second object to be engaged with, the central hole thereof being enlarged at the lower portion thereof;

an outer sleeve in the shape of a hollow cylinder with a central hole, the shank thereof being inserted into the central hole of the engaging stub, the tailing end thereof being a claw which is extended to the enlarged lower portion of the central hole of the engaging stub, the claw being in the form of a hollow cone with a plurality of gaps cut on the periphery thereof to allow the claw to stretch or collapse elastically, the upper end of the claw being slightly protruded externally to have a slightly larger diameter than the inner diameter of the engaging stub, the outer sleeve being provided on its top an enlarged portion having a diameter larger than that of the through hole, a top round recess being formed therein, the bottom of the round recess being provided with a plurality of bevelled blocks separately arrayed around the central through hole;

a positioning rod having a length longer than that of the outer sleeve and being insertable into the central through hole of the outer sleeve, the tailing end thereof being provided with a neck with a smaller diameter, a cone being provided on the end of the neck, diameter of the upper end of the cone being larger than the inner diameter of the bottom end of the claw, the top end of the positioning rod being provided with a pressing member of which the bottom end can be extended into the round recess, the bottom end of the pressing member being provided with a plurality of guiding blocks opposite to the bevelled blocks; when the positioning rod being extended into the central through hole of the outer sleeve and the pressing member being pressed down, so that the bottom ends of the guiding blocks being abutted against the bottom of the round recess, the neck and the cone being extended out of the bottom end of the claw of the outer sleeve, the end of the positioning rod contacting the inner bottom end of the claw, in this way, the claw being pushed outwardly slightly to prevent it from contracting, thereby, the outer sleeve locking the engaging stub and being not able to be taken out, thereby, the first and the second objects being engaged with each other; when the pressing member being exerted with a force to rotate the positioning rod, the guiding blocks being moved upwardly along the top surfaces of the bevelled blocks, and in turn the positioning rod and the pressing member being moved upwardly, then the end of the claw of the outer sleeve reaching the neck of the positioning rod having a reduced diameter, now grasping the pressing member and pulling it upwardly, the end of the claw being abutted against the upper surface of the cone and thus being pulled upwardly together with the positioning rod, the peripheral surface of the claw being pressed by the central hole of the engaging stub, so that the outer sleeve and the positioning rod in the central through hole thereof being drawn upwawdly out of the central hole, and disengaging of the first and the second objects to be engaged with being effected.

When in practising, a plurality of engagement components are extended through the through holes from above the top plate and down to engage with the engaging stubs for securing the top plate.

The primary object of the present invention therefore is to provide a combined structure of an easily assemblable and movable storage cabinet with its engagement components, by interconnection structure of the members in the movable storage cabinet and the engagement components thereof, no tool is required in assembling of the cabinets with fast speed, this can save working hours; and by virtue of easiness of assembling thereof, manufacturers do not need to assemble them in antecedent when in storing and shipping, their cost can thus be lowered, therefore, customers can do the assembling work by themselves because of the smaller volume and the lower price when they buy the unassembled cabinet components, expense is much saved, and the defects resided in the prior arts can be gotten rid of; besides, the engagement components can be widely used on other similar household appliances to get the same object of convenience in assembling and use.

The present invention will be apparent in its practical structure and characteristics after reading the detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof in reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional movable storage cabinet;

FIG. 2 is an analytic perspective view of the movable storage cabinet of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a schematic view showing assembling of the lateral side plates and the base plate of the movable storage cabinet of the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a schematic view assembling of the lateral side plates and the base plate of the movable storage cabinet of the present invention after assembling;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing assembling of the rear backing plate and the transverse partitioning plate of the movable storage cabinet of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing assembling of the top plate and the door panels of the movable storage cabinet of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing assembling of the base plate and the rollers of the movable storage cabinet of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the base plate and the rollers of the movable storage cabinet of the present invention after assembling;

FIG. 8 is a partial exploded and analytic perspective view of the engagement component structure of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic sectional view showing engaging of the engagement component structure of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a lataeral sectional view showing the engagement component structure of the present invention after engagement;

FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view showing the first step in disengagement of the engagement component structure of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic sectional view showing the second step in disengagement of the engagement component structure of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 2, the movable storage cabinet in the combination of an easily assemblable and movable storage cabinet and its engagement components is comprised at least of: a base plate 10, two lateral side plates 20, a rear backing plate 30, a top plate 40, two door panels 50 and a plurality of engaging components 60, wherein:

The base plate 10 are excavated on the two lateral sides of the top surface thereof to form positioning holes 101, the rear side thereof is excavated transversely to provide a transverse groove 102, the two ends of the front side thereof are drilled to provide two lower axle holes 103, and a plurality of rollers 104 are provided on the bottom thereof;

The lateral side plates 20 are located upright respectively at the two lateral sides on the base plate 10, two bending and L shaped hooks 201 are extended down therefrom and correspond in position to the positioning holes 101 for engagement therewith and fixing thereon, a vertical groove 202 is provided on the rear end of each side plate 20 located above the above mentioned transverse groove 102, a plurality of engaging stubs 601 of the above mentioned engaging components 60 are provided on the tops thereof;

The rear backing plate 30 has two lateral ends thereof which can be exactly engaged in the vertical grooves 202 of the two lateral side plates 20, the bottom edge thereof can be inserted in the transverse groove 102 of the base plate 10 for securing;

The top plate 40 covers the tops of the rear backing plate 30 and the two lateral side plates 20, two upper axle holes 403 are provided thereon in corresponding to the above mentioned lower axle holes 103, and a plurality of through holes 401 are provided in corresponding to the above mentioned engaging stubs 601;

The door panels 50 are provided on the two lateral sides in the front of and between the base plate 10 and the top plate 40 and covering the front ends of the two side plates 20, they are provided with protruding axles 503 corresponding in position to the upper and lower axle holes 403, 103, so that the door panels 50 can be pivotally opened or closed;

The engaging components 60 include the above mentioned engaging stubs 601 provided on the top of the two lateral side plates 20, and can be engaged with the engaging stubs 601 provided on the top of the two lateral side plates 20 through the through holes 401 from the top of the top plate 40 which can thereby be secured.

Referring to FIG. 3, when the above stated lateral side plates 20 and the base plate 10 are assembled, thickness of an engaging portion 105 at one lateral side of the positioning holes 101 on the base plate 10 can be slightly larger than the heitht of the engaging spaces above the hooks 201 of the side plates 20, when in assembling, the side plates 20 are placed at the lateral sides of the base plate 10, insert the hooks 201 into the positioning holes 101, pat the side plates 20 to move it to render the hooks 201 engaging the bottom of the thicker engaging portions 105, in this way, the hooks 201 are snugly engaged in the engaging portions 105, thus assembling of the side plates 20 and the base plate 10 is completed; when in detachment, pat the side plates 20 in the countrary direction to move it to render the hooks 201 to disengage from the engaging portions 105, so that the hooks 201 are removed from the positioning holes 101 to effect detachment.

Please refer to FIG. 4 now, when the above mentioned rear backing plate 30 is assembled, both sides thereof can be aligned with the vertical grooves 202 provided on the rear ends of the side plates 20, and are inserted therein from above, the bottom of the rear backing plate 30 then is inserted in the transverse groove 102 of the base plate 10 when it reaches the latter, thus assembling of the rear backing plate 30 is completed. When in detachment, it only needs to draw the rear backing plate 30 upwardly, there is no impediment above it. In practising of the present invention, a transverse partitioning plate 301 can be provided additionally to divide the space between the two side plates 20 into an upper and a lower areas, this can be effected by providing a plurality of protrusions 204 on the inner surfaces of the side plates 20, the protrusions 204 are arrayed in an upper and a lower lines parallel to each other on both of the side plates 20, so that the transverse partitioning plate 301 can be inserted between them from the front or the rear of the two side plates 20 and is fixed therebetween.

Please refer to FIG. 5, when the above mentioned top plate 40 and the side plates 20 are assembled, both sides of the top plate 40 are superimposed on the tops of the two side plates 20 to slip the through holes 401 over the engaging stubs 601 and fixed thereon by the whole engaging components 60, the top plate 40 then is secured; and when in detachment, it only needs to release the engagement between the engaging components 60 and the engaging stubs 601, the top plate 40 then can be removed to effect the detachment. The above mentioned door panels 50 are provided with protruding axles 503 corresponding in position to the upper and lower axle holes 403, 103, hence when in assembling, the bottom ends of the protruding axles 503 are inserted in the lower axle holes 103 in the first place before assembling of the top plate 40 and the side plates 20, when the top plate 40 are superimposed on the side plates 20, the top ends of the protruding axles 503 are inserted in the upper axle holes 403, thus assembling of the door panels 50 is completed.

Referring now to FIG. 6 and 7, the rollers 104 provided on the bottom of the base plate 10 can also be easily assembled in practising. That is, the four corners on the bottom of the base plate 10 are drilled to form four insertion holes 141, the rollers 104 are provided on the tops thereof with fixing posts 142 extending upwardly, the fixing posts 142 are enveloped with rubber or plastic sleeves 143 on which a plurality of ribs 144 are provided, the largest diameter on the sleeves 143 is slightly larger than that of the insertion holes 141, the fixing posts 142 are pressed into the insertion holes 141 together with their sleeves 143, the rollers 104 can thereby be secured; when in detachment, the rollers 104 can be taken off when a force larger than the friction force between the sleeves 143 and the insertion holes 141 is exerted on the rollers 104.

By the above stated structure, it does not require any tool in assembling, the assembling can rather be proceeded with fast speed, working hours can be saved. And by virtue of easy assembling of the structure, a manufacturer does not have to assemble it in antecedence when in storing or shipping, this can lower its cost, and customers can do the assembling work by themselves after they buy the components thereof in an unassembled state and with lower cost as well as with reduced volume, thus can save expense, and the defects resided in the conventional structure can be gotten rid of, this is the object of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the present invention is further characterized in the design of the engaging components 60 which each is comprised of an engaging stub 601, an outer sleeve 602 and a positioning rod 603, wherein:

The engaging stub 601 is in the shape of a hollow cylinder, the bottom of it is secured on the first object to be engaged with (either of the side plates 20), the top end thereof is aligned with a through hole 401 provided on the second object to be engaged with (the top plate 40, as shown in FIG. 9), the central hole 611 thereof is enlarged at the lower portion 612 thereof.

The outer sleeve 602 is in the shape of a hollow cylinder with a central through hole 621, the shank thereof is inserted into the central hole 611 of an engaging stub 601, the tailing end thereof is a claw 622 and is extended to the enlarged lower portion 612 of the central hole 611 of the engaging stub 601, the claw 622 is in the form of hollow cone with a plurality of gaps 623 cut on the periphery thereof to stretch or collapse elastically, the upper end of the claw 622 is slightly protruded externally to have a slightly larger diameter than the inner diameter of the central hole 611 of the engaging stub 601, the outer sleeve 602 is provided on its top an enlarged portion 624 having a diameter larger than that of one of the above mentioned through hole 401, a top round recess 625 is formed therein, the bottom of the round recess 625 is provided with a plurality of bevelled blocks 626 separately arrayed around the central through hole 621.

The positioning rod 603 has a length longer than that of the outer sleeve 602 and can be inserted into the central through hole 621 of the outer sleeve 602, the tailing end thereof is provided with a neck 631 with a smaller diameter, a cone 632 is provided on the end of the neck 631, diameter of the upper end of the cone 632 is larger than the inner diameter of the bottom end of the claw 622, the top end of the positioning rod 603 is provided with a pressing member 633 of which the bottom end can be extended into the round recess 625, the bottom end of the pressing member 633 is provided with a plurality of guiding blocks 634 opposite to the bevelled blocks 626.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, when the outer sleeve 602 is inserted in the central hole 611 of an engaging stub 601, the claw 622 will be contracted firstly, and when the outer sleeve 602 passes the enlarged lower portion 612, it can be stretched out elastically, and thus engaging state is obtained, the positioning rod 603 is extended into the central through hole 621 of the outer sleeve 602 and the pressing member 633 is pressed down, when the bottom ends of the guiding blocks 634 are abutted against the bottom of the round recess 625 (FIG. 10), the neck 631 and the cone 632 are extended out of the bottom end of the claw 622 of the outer sleeve 602, the end of the positioning rod 603 contacts the inner bottom end of the claw 622, in this way, the claw 622 is pushed outwardly slightly to prevent it from contracting, thereby, the outer sleeve 602 locks the engaging stub 601 and can not be taken out; by the fact that the engaging stub 601 is secured on the first object to be engaged with (either of the side plates 20), while the top enlarged portion 624 thereof is above the through hole 401 provided on the second object to be engaged with (the top plate 40, as shown in FIG. 9), the side plate 20 and the top plate 40 (the first and the second objects) are connected with each other; in order that the enlarged portion 624 is not extended out of the top of the top plate 40 and thus adversely influence the aesthetical appearance, the inner diameter on the top of the through hole 401 can be enlarged to form a receiving groove 414, so that the enlarged portion 624 can be embedded in the receiving groove 414.

Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, when the pressing member 633 is exerted with a force to rotate the positioning rod 603, the guiding blocks 634 are moved upwardly along the top surfaces of the bevelled blocks 626, and in turn the positioning rod 603 and the pressing member 633 is moved upwardly, then the end of the claw 622 of the outer sleeve 602 reaches the neck 631 of the positioning rod 603 having a reduced diameter, now grasp the pressing member 633 and pull it upwardly, the end of the claw 622 is abutted against the upper surface of the cone 632 and thus is pulled upwardly together with the positioning rod 603, the peripheral surface of the claw 622 is pressed by the central hole 611 of the engaging stub 601, so that the outer sleeve 602 and the positioning rod 603 in the central through hole 621 thereof can be drawn upwawdly out of the central hole 611, and disengaging of the engaging component 60 can be effected, and the side plates 20 and the top plate 40 (the first and the second objects to be engaged with) can be separated. Further, the pressing member 633 can be provided on the top surface thereof with a narrow recess of the shape of "-" or "+", so that a screw driver with the end in the shape of "-" or "+" can be used to rotate the pressing member 633 when in disassembling, the pressing member 633 can be totally embedded in the the round recess 625 when the engaging component 60 is in its complete engagement state, this can avoid collision and results a good looking appearance.

The names of the members composing the present invention and the embodiments shown in the drawings are only for illustrating of the present invention, and not for giving any limitation to the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various modifications or changes can be made to the elements of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications and changes also fall within the scope of the appended claims and are intended to form part of this invention. 

I claim:
 1. An engaging component comprising:an engaging stub in the shape of a hollow cylinder having a central hole, a bottom of said engaging stub being secured to a first object to be engaged with, a top end of the engaging stub being aligned with a through hole provided on a second object to be engaged with, said central hole of the engaging stub having an enlarged lower portion; an outer sleeve in the shape of a hollow cylinder with a central hole and a shank, the shank being inserted into the central hole of said engaging stub, a tailing end of the shank being a claw extending to the enlarged lower portion of said central hole of said engaging stub, said claw being in the form of a hollow cone with a plurality of gaps cut into a periphery of the hollow cone to allow said claw to stretch or collapse elastically, an upper end of said claw protruding slightly to have a slightly larger diameter than an inner diameter of said engaging stub, said outer sleeve having a top, the top including an enlarged portion having a diameter larger than that of said through hole, a top round recess being formed in the enlarged portion of the top of the outer sleeve, a bottom of said round recess being provided with a plurality of bevelled blocks separately arrayed around said central hole of the outer sleeve; a positioning rod having a length longer than that of said outer sleeve and being insertable into said central hole of said outer sleeve, a tailing end of the positioning rod being provided with a neck having a smaller diameter, a cone being provided on an end of said neck, a diameter of an upper end of said cone being larger than an inner diameter of a bottom end of said claw, a top end of said positioning rod being provided with a pressing member having a bottom end arranged to be extended into said round recess, the bottom end of said pressing member being provided with a plurality of guiding blocks opposite to said bevelled blocks, wherein when said outer sleeve is inserted into said central hole of said engaging stub, said claw is initially elastically collapsed, and when said outer sleeve passes said enlarged lower portion, said claw is elastically stretched to engage the outer sleeve, wherein when said positioning rod is extended into said central hole of said outer sleeve and said pressing member is pressed down, bottom ends of said guiding blocks abut against the bottom of said round recess, said neck and said cone of said positioning rod extend out of the bottom end of said claw of said outer sleeve, and the end of said positioning rod contacts an inner bottom end of said claw to push said claw slightly outwardly and prevent said claw from collapsing, thereby preventing said engaging stub from being taken out of said outer sleeve and causing said first and second objects to be engaged with each other, and wherein when a force is applied to said pressing member, said pressing member rotates said positioning rod, said guiding blocks are moved upwardly along top surfaces of said bevelled blocks, and said positioning rod and said pressing member are in turn moved upwardly, at which time the upper end of said claw of said outer sleeve reaches said neck of said positioning rod having a reduced diameter, and when the pressing member is then grasped and pulled upwardly, the end of said claw abuts against the upper surface of said cone and thus is pulled upwardly together with said positioning rod, and the peripheral surface of said claw is pressed by said central hole of said engaging stub so that said outer sleeve and said positioning rod in said central hole of the outer sleeve are drawn upwardly out of said central hole of the engaging stub, disengaging said first and second objects.
 2. An engaging component as stated in claim 1, wherein:an inner diameter on the top of said through hole is enlarged to form a receiving groove, so that said enlarged portion can be embedded in said receiving groove.
 3. An engaging component as stated in claim 1, wherein:said pressing member is provided on the top surface thereof with a narrow recess having a "-" or "+" shape, so that a screw driver having a "-" or "+" shaped end can be used to provide said force to rotate the pressing member, and wherein said pressing member is arranged be totally embedded in said round recess when said engaging component is in its complete engagement state. 